Lefty Eduardo Rodriguez pitched a phenomenal three-hit ballgame before the Red Sox went to righty Brad Ziegler in the eighth. Leading off, Gary Sanchez singled sharply up the middle. Dustin Pedroia made a stellar play to snag the ball, but his throw bounced in front of Ramirez.

Ramirez started moving to the other side of the bag to field the ball, but he went down in a heap after colliding with a charging Sanchez.

Although Sanchez kneed Ramirez's thigh, the first baseman said his impact with the ground is what hurt him the most. Ramirez was down for a few minutes, grabbing his lower back in pain as Red Sox manager John Farrell and a trainer aided him. After slowly pacing back and forth, Ramirez opted to stay in the game, but he was replaced for a pinch-hitter in the bottom half of the frame.

"I'm just really sore," said Ramirez. "I think I hit the ground too hard. Tried to stay in the game, but [my back] got really sore."

Ramirez wore two medical patches on his lower back in the clubhouse and said the tests on that area came back clean. The 32-year-old said his goal is to start against the D-backs on Friday.

"He's sore," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "After the collision, it was the impact to the ground, the low back was jarred. He's got some back spasms going on, particularly the remainder of that half inning. Wasn't going to chance it with any kind of violence to the swing."

Ramirez entered Thursday 0-for-16 after taking a tumble down the dugout stairs in Seattle and jamming his left wrist. Prior to the fall, the first baseman came off a powerful performance, going 2-for-4 with a home run and an RBI.